Liverpool are four wins from ending their 24-year wait for a 19th league title after beating Manchester City on Sunday. Three members of the 1990 champions – the manager, Kenny Dalglish, the first-team coach, Roy Evans, and the striker Ian Rush – met ahead of their involvement in Monday's "Celebration of the 96" event at Anfield to reminisce and to assess the title prospects of Brendan Rodgers' team.

Perhaps the confusion demonstrates how used to success you were then …

RE You didn't have chance to think anything else with Ronnie Moran about.

IR He'd throw your medal at you and say: "Four weeks until pre-season."

KD I bet they don't get their medals in a cardboard box these days. Ronnie would say: "Pick one if you think you deserve it."

Does the saying 'You don't know what you've got until it's gone' apply to Liverpool?

RE But that is where Ronnie was so good. At times he was a pain in the backside but he was a reality check and sometimes you need that. Of course we would celebrate and you had a few days on the beer with the boys, but you have to come back to reality and start again.

IR When we finished second in 1991, it seemed like failure. People see second as success now. We thought that would act as a wake-up call but I left in 1996 and we still hadn't won the title again. Even then, you would have laughed if someone had said we would still be waiting in 2014 for it. The more you go without it, the more frustrating it gets and the harder it gets to win it back. There are Liverpool supporters who don't know what it is like for their team to win the title.

Is there more tension around Brendan Rodgers' team because of that?

KD I think the tension lies in other places. The boys don't look tense. They look like they are in control of what they want to do to me. Is it harder on players if they have won it so many times before that if they don't win it, they are seen as a failure, or is it better to be the first players to win it for 24 years? I think they are handling it all really well.

RE We were expected to win the league back in those days. Obviously this season we didn't expect to win the title, we were aiming for the Champions League, but that has all changed now and that is down to Brendan. He has man-managed the situation really well.

IR The fans want it so much now. You see them all stood outside the ground when the coach arrives in the last couple of games, cheering them on, and I think the players today love all that. When we were going for the title, we did everything exactly the same. No change.

KD Why would we have changed things? Why change if it has been successful? I think the humility of the players has got a lot to do with this season and that has come back to the club in the last few years. It is getting back to where it was before. They have not been running about lighting fires all the time, saying: "We're going to do this and that."

RE They all look as though they are enjoying their football. That is the biggest thing for me. So many players in the modern game, you would think it was a chore sometimes, but they are going out and looking like they are enjoying playing football. That's the nice thing and that takes the pressure off straight away.

Liverpool came close to winning the league under your management, Roy. Do you see similarities with this team?

RE There are comparisons between this team and my team because of where we were, but we fell at a couple of hurdles. The big games weren't the problem. Twice we came unstuck against Coventry. They were one of our downfalls. We lost a couple of goals from set pieces one time and it shows how every single game is important. If you don't take the same attitude into every game then that is where you can slip up. The next game is huge now for Liverpool. Norwich are a strange team. Sometimes you can beat them five or six nil and sometimes they can be a nemesis. If we keep the same attitude and start the games well, then with the ability we have got we would hope to win. But nothing is a given.

Do you have regrets about 1996-97?

RE I have regrets. You look back and think: 'What if?' Could we have done better? Could I have done better? Did I make mistakes? Probably overall you do. The lesson is you have to take your chance because you don't know when you will get another one. If Liverpool win it this year, it takes that monkey off their back. But it is going to be tough. Four more games and four tough games. The nice thing is they have got the belief they can win it.

What have you made of the job Brendan Rodgers has done?

KD Fantastic. The results and the performances have been brilliant, the league table shows that. Brendan is the one who leads the club and the players. The players are the disciples. They have believed in what he has told them. What has been great for me is that individuals are not getting carried away and aside from some great individual performances, they are a team. They believe in the team ethic and I think that is really important. When you do get a bit of success it is important to maintain that, and Liverpool have always been very humble winners. We have been good winners. It is difficult being a good winner, but we did that during the successful period and this year I am sure they will do the same thing. They don't go shouting their mouths off. The way they have conducted themselves has been fantastic. That's what the people want.

RE Look at Sunday. The two top players up front, Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge, didn't really play that well against City but the rest of the team carried them through. That sort of team spirit, when you get that going for you, is a great asset.

What would it mean to you for Liverpool to win the league?

IR It would be amazing for the city, especially with Everton doing so well as well. It does remind me of the 1980s when that was normal. Everton and Liverpool dominated. The city is becoming known as a football city again.

And will Liverpool win the league?

KD They get to the top of the league and then people start to doubt it. Why? Why would you doubt it? Rather than ask for a reason why they will do it, give me a reason why they won't.

RE I think they will do it but there's no room for any slip-ups.

KD You don't know what will be needed but they will be feeling a lot better than the other two [Chelsea and Manchester City], I can tell you that.

"Celebration of the 96" is a charity event planned by the Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG). Proceeds from Monday's event, which includes a Liverpool legends versus Liverpool international team, will be split between HFSG and the club's own charity, the LFC Foundation.